The bill will gut public transportation, already crippled in our cities. It will loosen restrictions for oil and gas drilling in environmentally fragile areas. Finally, the bill will encourage increased road and bridge-building instead of initiating much-needed alternative transportation projects.

You may think I'm crazy but I'm a year-round bike rider. In Boston. Not the prettiest place to ride and certainly not the nicest climate. My commute is only a mile or so each way but in our geographically small town there are lots of people with short commutes. Bike riding, like walking, is emission-free, noise-free, and sustainable. Just like plant transportation systems.

Plant transportation systems?

Consider the flow of water, nutrients, and sugars in the plant. All of this movement occurs passively with no expenditure of energy. Natural pressure gradients are harnessed in the plant, along with the cohesive and adhesive properties of water, to allow free flow of materials to every cell in the plant.

What about the spread of pollen, seeds, and fruit? All of this movement is passive too. Gravity, wind, water, and animal partners all give plants a "lift." A kind of natural ride share that benefits the whole community.

We can't all be like plants (you know the joke: "Make like a tree and leave"), but we can look to plants and other living systems to build environments where transportation is minimally invasive and systems for moving people take into consideration the long-run good of our environment.

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Growth = Movement

Plants don't "move" but plant tissue stretches, warps, bends, contracts and expands in response to growth stimuli. We can see evidence of this kind of slow-motion movement in any plant form we observe. In this detail of old tree we can see how woody tissue responded over decades of growth to the "knot" in the center.

Dune Stabilizers

Grasses like this help stabilize dunes and at the same time move with the wind.

Bittersweet Double Helix

Most plants express some kind of helical growth form. Many plants also exhibit thigmotrophy, which is a kind of movement toward other surfaces. Ivy that grows on a wall, moss growing along the pavement, and climbing vines like this bittersweet are all examples of thigmotrophy. This kind of growth allows various plants to reach sunlight, to retain water, and to make their fruit available for dispersal.

Plant Movement

Plants search out the light and move toward it. Stems elongate toward the light in etiolation, seen in this photo.

Migrating Crops

Corn, which was originally cultivated in Central America, has migrated to every part of the world through the activities of its human partners.

Partners Help Plants Move

Pollinators and other partners help plants get around. This unlikely pollinator will spread pollen from one individual to the next.

Nicotiana

Plant some Nicotiana outside your afternoon-shade window and you'll get great aroma all summer long.

The smell of fresh apples

Mmm...a barrel of fresh apples smells great.

Magnolia

Magnolia's wonderful aroma is remembered all year.

Pineapple Patterns

The appearance and aroma of a pineapple are distinctive but they are only part of its relevant characteristics.

Fiddlehead

The characteristic fern shape, circinnate vernation, can be seem in other plants too.

Milkweed Seeds

It's no accident that these seeds are arranged like the pineapple above. The milkweed and pineapple share a common ancestor that they inherited this body plan from.

Inspiration

Velcro was inspired by the lowly burdock plant.

Darwin's Garden

These formal plantings are part of Darwin's gardens at Downe House. He also used extensive experimental gardens and greenhouses.

Milkweed and Bumblebee

Looking closely at a flower and its pollination partner teaches us about the Naturalistic Philosophy.

Our garden

A view of our garden in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pattern and Process

Looking closely at all parts of the plant helps us develop an awareness of its patterns and process

About Me

I communicate science to non-scientists. My interest in the intersection between art and science, which I consider to be closely related practices, is the focus of two essay collections I am working on. As a Harvard PhD I realized that the work we do in the library and laboratory, while worthy in and of itself, does not necessarily translate to normal people. Bridging that gap is my goal in my teaching practice and in these posts. I teach college sophomores at Boston University and I teach in the sustainability program at the Boston Architectural College.